Calculating the Weight of a Filled Collection Drum
Calculating the Weight of a Filled Collection Drum
Mstack,
You have probably already decided on either the steel or fiber collection drum, but I thought I would weigh in (no pun intended) and provide an analytical answer. It gets a little messy, but reduces to usable formulas.
Obviously, the weight of the Collection Drum when you lift it for emptying depends on 1) the weight Collection Drum PLUS 2) the weight of the wood in the Collection Drum. The shipping weight of the 47 gallon Fiber Collection Drum I purchased was 17 pounds.
The weight of wood in the collection drum depends on: 1) the density of the wood and 2) how compacted the wood debris is in the Collection Drum. Density is the weight of a material that has a given volume. You can find the density of various woods in the Wood Database (
http://www.wood-database.com/). The Wood Database uses the term “Average Dried Weight” for density, which refers to the density of wood at 12% moisture content and is given in units of pounds/cubic feet.
Sanding Dust Weight (Maximum Weight)
In your case you have a 30 gallon Collection Drum. Because “Average Dried Weight” is provided in Cubic Feet, the volume of the Collection Drum needs to be converted to cubic feet. This is done by multiplying number of gallons by 0.133681 cubic feet (1 gallon = 0.133681 cubic feet):
30 Gallons x 0.133681 cubic feet = 4.01043, rounded to 4 cubic feet
For Black Walnut, the Wood Database shows the “Average Dried Weight” to be 38 lbs./ft3. Therefore each cubic foot of Black Walnut weighs 38 pounds.
The MAXIMUM weight of your 30 gallon fiber drum filled with Black Walnut sanding dust would be:
152 lbs= 4 cubic feet X 38 lbs + the weight of the Collection Drum
This MAXIMUM weight would approximate the weight of the Collection Drum if it were filled ONLY with dust from hours and hours of sanding Black Walnut.
Planer Shavings Weight (Minimum Weight)
On the other hand, a Collection Drum filled only with planer shavings would weigh much less, because planer shavings do not compact nearly as tightly as fine dust. Estimating the weight of the 30 gallon Collection Drum filled with planer shavings is more complicated and requires making an actual measurement. Once the measurement is made, it can be used as the volume of planer shavings from any species of wood. However the weight of the filled Collection Drum still depends on the wood species planed.
The measurement required is the Volume of wood that has been REMOVED during the planer operation that fills the Collection Drum. For example, if you planed 100 board feet of 4/4 stock (1” thick) to a thickness of ¾” final thickness and this completely filled the Collection Drum, you can calculate the Volume of wood removed that filled the Collection Drum. Since 100 board feet of 4/4 stock has a surface area of 100 square feet and 0.0208 feet (1/4” converted to feet) of material was
removed, the Volume of wood shavings that filled the Collection Drum is 2.1 cubic feet. The Volume of
wood in the filled Collection Drum is:
2.1 cubic feet =
¼” x 100 square feet
12 inches
2.1 cubic feet = 0.0208 feet x 100 square feet
The weight of the shavings in Collection Drum is found by multiplying the Volume of planer shavings in the Collection Drum TIMES “Average Dried Weight” (in this example Black Walnut):
79.8 pounds = 2.1 cubic feet X 38 lbs.
The weight of the Collection Drum = 79.8 pounds + weight of the Collection Drum
While this example is fictional, the method of determining the Volume of planer shavings filling the Collection Drum can be determined during the next planer operation. Keep track of the surface area planed and the amount removed from the surface area until the Collection Drum is filled.
Also, by selecting the wood species with the highest density (generally the harder the wood the greater its density), the heaviest the filled Collection Drum will ever be at its Maximum and Minimum weights can be found.
